But even with all of the Zoom drama unfolding, the real scene-stealer this week was Cisco. Cisco’s hesitancy to embrace life as a meta-human has been one of the most interesting post threads this season; seeing the contrast in this episode between Cisco’s glee upon seeing Barry’s new speed and his paralyzing fear upon being asked to use his powers in a new way, even if it meant defeating Zoom, only further highlighted how much Cisco has been trying to think of himself as existing in a separate box from Barry and the other metas.
I particularly enjoyed Cisco’s little Darth Vader speech during his heart to heart with Barry. It would be very easy for a scene where a character attempts to explain their emotional state through an extended Star Wars metaphor to be played entirely for laughs, but Carlos Valdes delivered a very genuine performance that really spoke to the pathos he’s infused the character with. I think that many of us in the geek community could probably relate; these characters and series we watch and read aren’t just fun distractions... they’re a part of our language and how we relate to the world around us. It was really neat to see that acknowledged, especially coming from a character like Cisco, who’s often an audience stand-in.
Unfortunately, the episode seemed to falter a bit after Cisco finally came around to opening up the portals. The team’s plan to capture Zoom fell apart really quickly, and it seemed a little ridiculous that no one had thought of a back up plan, especially considering how high the stakes were. Barry making the decision to give up his speed for Wally’s life is of course understandable, but why did he feel honor bound to keep up his end of the bargain with a dangerous serial killer after Wally was set free? Especially after we’ve already seen that Barry is capable of defeating Zoom? It felt like a silly dilemma that could have easily been solved if Zoom had just kept Wally hostage until he got Barry’s speed. But, distracting as these plot holes may have been, the actors’ strong performances managed to keep the scene from feeling like a total farce.
Facing Zoom head-on also meant that Caitlin was forced to cross paths with her undead super villain ex-boyfriend for the first time. Her reaction to the “Jay as Zoom” reveal was curiously underplayed in the last few episodes, but seeing him face to face again meant things finally came to a head as she tearfully begged for Zoom to spare Barry for her sake. It’s hard to tell how affected Zoom was by her pleas; he does, after all, kidnap her mere moments afterward, but the fact that her calling him a monster sent him reeling back to the night his mother died seems to indicate he was at least a little bit shaken by her words.
We’ll have to see if this has any affect on how he treats her as a prisoner, but I’m hoping since Caitlin is the now fourth character we’ve seen held captive in Zoom’s lair we might finally be able see who the man in the mask is or at least what his connection to Zoom is. While I’m guessing Barry will get his powers back by the end of next week’s episode, it seems hard to imagine he’ll have the time to go and rescue Caitlin as well. Although I’m not keen on repeating Jesse’s storyline from the first half of the season with Caitlin, it might be interesting to see Caitlin stuck on Earth-2 for a while, particularly if she got her meet her doppelgänger. Either way, THE FLASH has managed to successfully revitalize itself again after another mini-hiatus. Now let’s hope they keep that energy going into these last few weeks.
Written by Kaitlin Roberts, THE FLASH Beat Writer -- Click here to read Kaitlin's posts
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